(1) Field of the Invention This invention relates to identification of objects; and, more particularly, to identification of objects by either of two indicia or messages.
(2) Prior Art
It is frequently desirable to conveniently and positively label a container which is used to store, mix, or carry contents to indicate the type of material in the container. For example, many homeowners have one or more gasoline containers located in the garage, workshop or storage building. The fuel in the containers is normally stored for use in such apparatus as chain saws, autos, motorcycles, lawn mowers, snowmobiles, etc., for which the fuel is not the same and therefore can be either unmixed, that is, pure gasoline, or gasoline mixed with a petroleum or synthetic oil to provide a lubricant for an engine.
Typically, there is no convenient way to indicate whether the fuel contained in the container is mixed or unmixed gasoline. Without positive labelling it is typically difficult to know what is in the container. For example, the sequence of purchase, storage, and use of the fuel can be varied. The fuel can be mixed immediately or later, or just prior to use. Further, since most containers are not emptied immediately, some fuel remains stored in them until needed again. Often, another person other than the one who mixed or filled the container will be using the container.
If the person using the fuel in the container is not sure of just what the mixture is, the person can either guess as to the contents of the container or throw the fuel away. Guessing as to the composition of the fuel is risky because use of the fuel may damage the engine causing failure and possible injury to the operator. Depending upon the type of engine, this can happen either when the person adds additional petroleum oil or does not add any petroleum oil to the mixture in the container. Throwing away the fuel in the container is a waste of energy, a fire hazard and may cause damage to the environment.
In order to label a mixture contained within a container it would be desirable to have a very convenient tag which can indicate the contents of the container. The tag must be readily available so that it can always be used and the temptation to try to remember the contents or otherwise not label the contents is completely avoided. That is, the convenience of use of the tag must be such that the container is labelled at the moment it is filled or mixed to prevent future guesswork.